Oklahoma State University Athletics
Texas A&M Rallies Past Oklahoma State 7-5
April 19, 2003 | Cowboy Baseball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas- Texas A&M rallied from a 5-4 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Oklahoma State 7-5 in baseball action Friday night at Olsen Field.
A&M took advantage of a fielding error by shortstop Chris Gutierrez with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game when third baseman Cliff Pennington knocked a RBI single to left off of Cowboy reliever Shane Hawk that scored second baseman Eric Shindewolf. Rightfielder Cory Patton then walked and centerfielder Justin Ruggiano followed with a two-run triple to right to extend the lead to 7-5.
Texas A&M improved to 31-11 and 11-5 in the Big 12, while Oklahoma State fell to 25-12 and 8-5 in league action.
The Cowboys jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third on two-out RBI hits by third baseman Josh Fields and first baseman John Urick. They added two more to the lead on a two-run homer by Fields in the fifth.
A&M tied the game with one swing in its half of the fifth when Cory Patton blasted a grand-slam homer over the centerfield wall off of Cowboy starter Scott Baker.
Josh Fields delivered his second two-out RBI single in the seventh that scored Kenny Hansley from second to give OSU a 5-4 lead. Fields finished the night 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored and extended his hit streak to 15 games.
Centerfielder Jose Virgil’s 17-game hit streak was snapped with an 0-for-5 day, including striking out to end the game.
Hawk dropped to 6-2 on the year after giving up three unearned runs in 2.1 innings of work. A&M reliever Scott Beerer improved to 5-0 with 2.1 innings of one-hit scoreless relief.
The teams will be back in action tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in the second game of the series. Sophomore southpaw Spencer Grogan is slated to take the mound for the Pokes, while junior righthander Matt Farnum will start for the Aggies.
